Many designs of sports floors have been produced to satisfy the needs of sports competition as well as recreational physical and sporting activities. The technical criteria of sports floors therefore vary depending on the required use tempered by financial and economic constraints because the investments are costly and must be able to be rapidly amortized. Different types of sports floors have been used, such as point elastic floors, area elastic floors and combined elastic floors. Point elastic floors are made of synthetic materials produced in one or more layers provided in strips rolled out to a desired length and placed directly onto a receiving base (i.e., concrete). In this implementation, the weight of the athlete is spread over an area only slightly greater than the surface area of the athlete's foot with an impact zone of tenths of inches around the foot. This type of covering is satisfactory in relation to its low cost and its properties of durability (wear, maintenance, resistance to impacts). However, the sporting properties are limited due to the thickness-flexibility compromise of the floor which prevents the cushioning layer from being increased without experiencing problems of stability or support.
Area elastic floors can be made of synthetic or wood-based materials, the load of the athlete being spread over an area much greater than the area of the foot (several inches around the foot). In the past, certain area elastic floors comprise a first covering made of polyurethane foam of a certain thickness onto which are placed two superposed tiers of wood panels arranged in staggered pattern, with a finish covering. However, the investment in an area elastic sports floor of this type is high. The installation time can be long due to the disposition of the two tiers of wood panels and the difficulties of correctly filling the entire playing surface. In addition, certain disadvantages have been observed. The wood panels are sensitive to humidity which tends to rise from the concrete base. This may alter the characteristics of the floor with inappropriate effects. Furthermore, the cost of maintenance is high. Wood panels may also expand and deform due to the ambient environment and temperature, and thus modify the conditions of sealing between panels. Certain suspended synthetic flooring with area elastic properties offers significant advantages over wood-based area elastic flooring surfaces including resilience, durability, ease of installation, and transportation. Creating molds for numerous shapes and sizes of synthetic flooring products, however, is expensive. Moreover, changing molds during the manufacturing process is a time-consuming effort.